Hey amazing people who gave me 11 reviews! Because I got so many awesome reviews, I stayed up late writing this chapter so I could update. This story got twice as many reviews as my other story! (If you haven't read it, check it out and tell me what you think)

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" I asked Lissa as we walked through the tunnel.

She looked at me fearfully before quickly nodding. "Rose, you could go to jail for taking me away, even though I wanted to. We should take this deal and be happy about it."

I sighed in defeat. "I know, but… promise me that the moment you feel depressed or anything, you'll tell me. The moment you do, we'll be gone." I told her.

She laughed quietly. "Oh, Rose," She sighed. "You're always trying to protect me. I promise."

I didn't have time to respond because at that moment, a short lady with slightly curly red hair walked up to us. Her face was hard and looking at her, I doubted she had any emotions. Her hazel eyes assessed me, then turned to Lissa.

"Are you Rosemarie Hathaway and Vasilisa Dragomir?" She asked. I noted that she had a slight Scottish lilt to her voice.

Lissa smiled and held out her hand. "Please call me Lissa. And this is Rose." Lissa smiled charmingly. I just crossed my arms and looked at Janine.

She ignored Lissa's hand and turned to me. "I am Janine and I'm your foster mother. Uncross your arms," She snapped.

My eyes widened slightly in surprise, but I tightened my arms defiantly. Lissa elbowed me, silently telling me to be good and obey.

I sighed and uncrossed my arms, but redoubled my glare of death; Janine was so going down. Nobody could resist my crazy evil stare. They always gave in.

Janine's lips tightened, if that was possible. "Follow me. I have a car waiting outside."

When Janine was about ten feet in front of us, I hissed, "Bitch," in Lissa's ear. Lissa smiled and pushed me away.

"Be nice. She's probably just nervous." Lissa said.

I snorted. "Yea, right. I bet she's going through menopause." Lissa rolled her eyes.

The car ride to Janine's house was quiet and uncomfortable. In the beginning, Lissa had tried to fill the uncomfortable silence with a conversation, but when that had fallen flat, Lissa had subsided into silence as well. Apparently, Janine had absolutely no interests.

As we drew closer to Janine's house, I could sense Lissa's increasing unease. I reached for her hand and squeezed it reassuringly. The car pulled up to a curb and came to a halt.

I looked out the window and my eyes widened when I saw Janine's house. It was actually more like a mansion. I mean, it's not like it had a long, winding driveway with a giant white house sitting on top of a hill. To be honest, I was glad it wasn't that type of house. They gave me the creeps, and I always thought that they would be fit for vampires. Sighing, I leaned against the door.

Janine opened the car door and I went sprawling onto the sidewalk. Fuming and trying to ignore Lissa's laughter, I lifted myself up and glared at Janine. She was staring at me dispassionately.

"Way to try and kill me," I snapped angrily.

Janine's icy stare didn't waver. "Well, next time don't lean against the car door so much."

I didn't respond. I stalked to the back of the car and pulled out my suitcase. "Well, Mother, are you going to show us in?"

Next to me, I felt Lissa shift uncomfortably. She'd always had a problem with the disrespectful way I talked to our foster parents.

Janine's lips tightened. Turning on her heels without saying a word, she disappeared through the front door. I looked at Lissa questioningly. She shrugged and gestured for me to follow. Silently, we made our way to the front door, where a really old dude appeared and took out luggage.

"Wait—what—where are you going—okay," I said awkwardly, breaking off when he didn't stop moving. I started after the man. Lissa hurried to catch up to me.

The man—I'm assuming he was Janine's butler—walked up a set of stairs and turned right, heading down a very long hallway with five or six doors. He paused at the second door for a few moments, just long enough to throw Lissa's luggage through the doorway.

"What the hell?" I exclaimed. "Is that supposed to be Lissa's room?" He didn't respond. I felt my anger starting to rise. Lissa put a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

"It's okay." She said softly, her green eyes glowing with humor. "Come to my room when the butler's done throwing your luggage around."

"I'm gonna hurt him if anything in my suitcase is damaged in any way. Even if it's just a scratch," I growled. My elbows were still stinging from my tumble on to the sidewalk and now I had to deal with an irritating and rude butler.

A loud thump made me spin around, ready for any danger to Lissa or myself. It was the damn butler, throwing my suitcase into the fourth door down. Anger clouded my vision.

"I'll be right back," I told Lissa through clenched teeth. She bit her lip nervously and nodded, staring worriedly at the butler.

"Don't do anything stupid." Lissa murmured to me.

"No promises," I muttered back. Lissa gave a half-exasperated, half-amused sigh and went into her room, shutting the door gently behind her.

I turned to face the butler, who was studiously avoiding my glare. I marched right up to him, intending to give him a piece of my mind. "Hey! Look at me! Or are you blind as well as stupid?" I said spitefully.

Reluctantly, the butler raised his head and looked at me. I crossed my arms over my chest. "Could you be more disrespectful?" I demanded.

He lifted his chin defiantly. "Miss Hathaway, please refrain from yelling. It upsets the mistress."

"Oh, shut the fuck up! I'll yell if I wanna frickin' yell. And stop talking like someone from the 1700's, would you?" I said, raising my voice just to annoy him. His eyes hardened. "Oh, and another thing: who the hell are you anyway? Are you just here to amuse Janine or annoy the shit out of me?"

"I am Janine's butler, for lack of better word. I take care of guests such as yourself and Miss Dragomir and I watch the house when Janine is working." The butler answered coolly. Well, at least he'd stopped talking like some freaky dude from the early 1700's.

I leaned in closer. "Then why," I hissed. ,"are you so damn disrespectful? If you ever toss my luggage, or anyone else's luggage, into a room like that, I will hurt you. And it will be painful, and you will be begging for mercy." I gave him my most chilling smile.

He blinked, slightly taken aback. "I wasn't being disrespectful, Miss Hathaway."

"Oh, right. So, tossing people's belongings into a guest room without telling them what the hell is going on is just normal etiquette?" I said, pretending to be surprised. "For some reason, I find that hard to believe."

He glared at me. "Janine told me not to interact with you two."

"Don't fucking listen to her!" I exclaimed. "The next time I demand information out of you, I expect an answer—and it better be a damn good one." I slammed the door in his face, fuming.

~.~.o.O.o.~.~

His breathe was hot on my face. I did my best not to cringe and wrinkle my nose as the overwhelming smell of alcohol reached me. Fear crept up to the front of my mind. He'd been drinking again. At the time, I hadn't known what the smell was, but I knew that when I smelled it, we were in for a rough night.

"So, little girl, you wanna disrespect me again?" He breathed in my ear. Behind me, I heard Lissa whimper slightly. Her fear encouraged me. I had to stand up for us.

"I wasn't being disrespectful." I said boldly, standing up straighter.

His eyes narrowed in hatred. "Why, you little bitch," He sneered. A stinging force across my cheek sent me reeling away from Lissa. I stumbled and fell, faintly hearing her cry out in fear for me and herself.

I slowly picked myself up, tasting blood in my mouth. My head spinning, I tried to focus on Lissa's voice.

"Please, Daddy, don't do it!" She was pleading with him. Even in my confused state, I knew that was a bad thing. I had to warn her.

I licked my lips. "Lissa," It came out as a croak. Crap. I cleared my throat and tried again. "Lissa," It came out louder, but by now, Daddy was screaming at her. I cleared my head and tried to listen to what he was saying.

"Shut the fuck up, you little bitch! You have no right to exist! I'm all alone and it's your fucking fault!" He was screaming and spitting. Lissa flinched as the spit hit her face. "Don't frickin' close your eyes when I talk to you! Just because your mother was a whore doesn't give you the right to ignore me!"

I bit my lip nervously, knowing what was coming. He was going to beat her up now and I was going to throw myself in front of her and try to save her from Daddy until he got mad and stormed off to drink some more. Then, I would take Lissa upstairs and we would hide out for the rest of the night.

"Your mother was a slut and you will be too! It's because of you that Rose's mother left me! You should be punished!" I flinched. Tonight he was going farther than normal, and I could sense what he was going to say. Lissa's wide, frightened eyes met mine and I knew that she also knew what was coming. Tears started streaming down her face, but she held back her whimpers, afraid Daddy was going to hurt her even more if she made a sound.

I tensed for Daddy's next words. "You should be punished," He repeated slowly. He turned to face me, and a chill crept its way up my spine. His eyes had a maniacal glint to them. When he saw my fear, his face twisted into a grotesque smile. "Rosie, Rosie," He crooned softly, stepping closer to me. My breathe caught in my throat. I looked at him, not bothering to disguise my fear. "What should this whore-to-be's punishment be?"

Lissa stared at me, wide-eyed and fearful. I tore my gaze from her face and looked up at Daddy's face. "Daddy," I whispered. It was one word, my last plea to him and his sanity. He gazed at me, disappointment filling his face. "Please," I tried again to reach him.

"Rosie, I thought you were stronger. You know what we do to people like Vasilisa?" He spat her name as if it was a curse. I shook my head, tears falling freely. Lissa was dead silent, not daring to breathe. He smiled a slow smile. "We kill them," He whipped around, pulling out a knife. Lissa barely had time to scream before the knife was sliding along her throat, causing blood to pour out.

Her eyes met mine one last time, terrified and betrayed, betrayed by me, the one who had promised to protect her. Her scream turned into a horrifying gurgling noise. I heard another scream, this one shrill, terrified, and very much alive. It took me a second to register that the scream was my own.

Daddy turned to face me slowly. Gasping for breath, my mind spinning, I tried to close my mouth. "Lissa," I sobbed. "Lissa, please don't die," I turned my face towards Daddy. He wore an expression of pure rage and hate, directed towards me.

"Shut the hell up, bitch!" He yelled. "She deserved what she got!"

He strode over to me. Whimpering, I scampered to Lissa's side and dropped to the ground next to her. I ignored the blood staining my hands.

"Lissa," I gasped out. "Don't leave me here alone. Please don't die." I was jerked up by my hair and found myself face to face with my furious Daddy, who was holding a bloodstained knife in his hand threateningly.

"I'll kill you!" He bellowed.

"No!" I screamed, terror taking control of my mind. I twisted wildly, trying to pull myself free. Getting away from this crazed man was all I could think about. He threw me down on the ground next to Lissa. I blinked dazedly and found myself staring into Lissa's glazed over, horrified green eyes. Seeing this, I felt all my strength leave me. Shock and sadness consumed me.

"I'm gonna kill you," Daddy repeated, reaching down to pick me up again.

I closed my eyes and waited for the inevitable.

~.~.o.O.o.~.~

A loud banging on my door woke me with a jolt.

"Rose! Rose open up!" Lissa's voice came through the door. She sounded worried and scared.

I shivered, recalling how real the nightmare had felt. It was something I had suffered with for years, this nightmare of what could have easily happened to me and Lissa. It haunted my dreams frequently, something I usually made sure that Lissa didn't know about.

I stumbled to the door, wiping my tearstained cheeks and trying to calm my jittery nerves. Wrenching the door open, I was ambushed by a tall blonde, who came barreling into my room.

"Rose, what's wrong?" Lissa demanded, turning to face me once she was in my room. She looked around slowly. "There's no one in here."

I shuffled to my bed. "I—yea. No, nothing's wrong. I was sleeping." I swallowed back the tears that threatened my vision.

Lissa looked at me closely. Realization dawned on her face. "Oh. Was it another nightmare?" Keeping Lissa from knowing about the frequent nightmares was impossible at times, when they got so bad that I was literally screaming in my sleep. Usually, I was able to wake up, sweating and crying, but able to pull myself together enough so that Lissa wouldn't worry. However, sometimes, they were so vivid and real that I couldn't help but scream.

I nodded slowly, not trusting myself to speak. I hated this. I was supposed to be the strong one. When these nightmares happened, Lissa took care of me. She comforted me until I calmed down enough to talk about them. It made me feel weak, like I was letting Lissa down.

Lissa's sympathy was evident. She suffered from nightmares too, just as often as I did, though she didn't know that. Silently, she held out her arms, and I flew into them, stifling my sobs.

"It's okay," She soothed. "It was just a dream. That's all over now." I held back my tears, but couldn't stop the shaking. Lissa rubbed my back comfortingly.

I pulled away slightly. "I know I wasn't screaming that loud. What did you need?" I asked, my voice thick with suppressed tears.

"The butler that you were yelling at came up to tell me it was time for dinner. He's waiting by my room to take us to the kitchen." Lissa smiled slightly. "He seems kinda afraid to come to your room. What'd you say to him?"

I smiled sheepishly. "Well, I might have threatened him a few times."

Lissa slapped my shoulder softly. "Rose!" She exclaimed. "You have got to stop threatening everyone you don't like!"

I rubbed my shoulder, pretending her hit had hurt. "Well, he bugs me." I replied defensively.

She rolled her eyes at me. "Let's go. I'm starving."

I followed her out the door to meet the butler in the hallway.

Ta-da! Chapter Three is COMPLETE!

Lemme know what you thought of the whole dream scene. It was really hard for me to write, so it'd be nice if you'd let me know if it's super crappy.

Until next chapter! (please review)